“I feel pretty confident the receiver position will be healthy for the game,” McCarthy said. “Randall was sent today due to illness. We’ve got a number of guys that are fighting through it, it’s just that time of year here. But our doctors feel confident everybody will be ready for the game.”

Nelson in the second half of the season has had knee, ankle and hamstring injuries. His ankle is the issue this week.

“I’m hoping Jordy can practice tomorrow, is the goal,” McCarthy said.

**Safety Jerron McMillian missed practice Tuesday and Wednesday because of a personal issue. McCarthy said McMillian was traveling back to Green Bay today and is expected to be at practice tomorrow.

**Running back James Starks is doing more in practice this week than since he sustained a bruise inside his knee in early December, but McCarthy gave no indication of whether or how much Starks might play this week.

“We’ll see how it goes. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how we’re going to play the game, how we’re going to run it, who’s going to run it. we’ll see how the week goes, we’ve still got more work to do.

**McCarthy on the need to balance getting enough work done on the field with getting his players enough rest so they’re fresh Saturday night: “You have to listen to your strength and conditioning staff and all aspects of it. We put a lot of time and effort into nutrition availability and education for your players. You have to listen to your medical staff. This is the time year they need to be fresh. You don’t want to wear your team out on the practice field. There have been times earlier in my coaching career where I may have probably taken too much out of the football team during the course of the week, I’m talking more early season. You learn from those experiences and you have a better feel for what it needs to take to get a team ready. You just look at all those factors, A-No. 1 priority is to make sure our guys are fresh for Saturday night.”